This is the first time my wife & I sail with Celebrity as we have heard from our friends that Celebrity service is great & food is better than the other major cruise liners. So we said give it a try to see New Zealand & a bit of Australia.

If we can sum it up, our experience for this cruise is about the same in some areas & may be just a tad worst than the other cruise liners in the areas noted below. Start with checked in in Auckland, we have never experienced some check in some unorganized. At least, we found our disembarking in Sydney quite organized though once off the ship is another story. For coming back from a tired day visiting the port, guess what, there is only 1 x-ray machine line & that is a bit ridiculous. When tendering, most guest will return 30 minutes before the final time & only 1 boat is available. Logistic planning is not score high points here.

Food experience is average, the dessert selection is lacking & plate presentation could be better. We came across a few fellow passengers & we were all wondering why on a New Zealand cruise with no kiwi fruit being served as one of the daily fruits selection. Considered to be a bit odd? We had specialty dinner in the Murano that we found the food & service to be above average. Main dinning room plates as noted above is not up to the standard as expected especially some dishes were from Top Chef show. We looked at the pictures we took from one of the other cruise lines & what a disappointment. Read more